Users
User Journey Users of the project begin at hypnotist Nelson Ray's website . From here the user is given many options, in addition to the ability to explore the website. The website links to the following platforms: the documentary students' blog, and George's blog If the user chooses to explore the documentary students blog first, the user will reach a blog filled with story content. Blog posts relating to Nelson and George are included, as well as documentary footage produced by the two students running the blog. From here, the user is given ample options as to what to explore next. The documentary students' blog links to the following platforms: back to the hypnotist's website, George's blog, or Lily's blog If the user chooses to explore George's blog from here, the user will now gain insight into who George is, and what has happened to him. The blog also provides a back story into his relationship with Lily, his meeting of Nelson and his awakening. From here, the user is giving the following platform options: the hypnotist's website, or the documentary students' blog. Evidently these two options may have already been explored, encouraging the user to take another path from the documentary students' blog. If this path is Lily's blog, the user will be given a new aspect of the story to explore: Lily's search for George. Here the user can access all other platforms: the hypnotist's website, George's blog, the Fascinators website, or the documentary students' blog. Once the user has reached the Fascinators website, the conclusion of the story will be clear, and depending on the journey beforehand, the user may have to back track through the project to have all elements of the story clarified. Given the expansiveness of the project, there are numerous paths the user could take on their journey. For all links between platforms, view the Platform Links section. User Profiles ''Target Audience: Predominantly male adolescents who use the online world to engage in fantasy worlds far from their own. These kinds of users enjoy the challenge of finding multiple pathways and journeys through the online, and are intrigued by the Internets power to record an entire event as it unfolds. They enjoy unlocking secrets and identifying inconsistencies and especially enjoy assessing details and making calculated guesses on what is to happen.'' We imagine that our project will reach a fairly small and niche audience in terms of age. As our transmedia artefact occurs almost entirely online, and certainly relies on online platforms to reveal the complexities in the story, this limits the possibilities for some users. We plan on targeting the pre-existing online community constructed around Tumblr. '' We did some research before selecting this platform as it seemed a bit implausible that our user (George Nada) who is a middle aged male would turn to the website due to it’s youth orientated content. However, in assessing other platforms such as ''Blogger and Wordpress ''we found that neither had the kind of back and forth interaction that ''Tumblr ''encourages via reblogging and commenting nor did they attract the users we foregrounded as our target audiences. We did some research into ''Tumblr and found that users tend to be university students that are interested in aesthetics and visual culture. We found that: 1. Tumblr’s audience is among the youngest with 45% being under 35 years old. 2. 47% of Tumblr users are male 3. 35% of Tumblr users make less than $30k annually 4. 65% of Tumblr’s audience has a college education 5. Only 33% of Tumblr users have children. 6. Hispanics and African-Americans make up 29% of Tumblr’s audience 7. Tumblr is more popular with 13-25 year olds than Facebook 8. Average user spends 23 minutes on Tumblr per visit SOURCE: http://blog.compete.com/2012/12/20/the-social-makeup-of-social-media-income-breakdown/ We believe that these statistics characterise the kinds of people we are hoping to attract via the use of George’s blog, as these kinds of users are likely to take the opportunity to click through a series of interconnected pages to get some kind of gratification at the end. However, we also hope to attract a secondary audience. There is scope for engagement in the project via incidental means through our poster and handout flyer campaign. This part of the project is more likely to reach a wider pool of individuals that exhibit a far greater diversity in age, gender and interests. However, simply looking at the poster or picking up a flyer is not engaging with the project entirely. We anticipate that about 15% of people that see the poster or flyer will actually choose to engage with the project at a deeper level by visiting the website. We hope that once people begin to interact with the website that they will become increasingly intrigued and enticed by the links made available. We predict that many users will have a cursory look around the architecture and leave the site without clicking on any of the links as some of the content will appear abstract to those who are not open to a transmedia experience or even to the idea online story telling. Moderate users will take a more attentive look and begin making primary links to content but will not make the effort to revisit the site or follow updates. Heavy users, (which are obviously ideal to get involved in the project) are users that will maintain consistent engagement with the project and revisit the site as they realise there are consistent updates. These types of users will be actively involved in the project and may tweet to Nelson Ray or apply for tickets to his show. They may also fish through the backlog of content on George’s Tumblr or the Documentary students production blog. Later in the project, they may also become involved with the WHAT HAPPENED TO GEORGE campaign. Huw Davies ''' '''Age: 18 Lifestyle: Enjoys gaming online and offline, high school student, interested in creative web design and graphic design. Keen reader and blogger. Education: Currently completing year 12 Occupation: Student/ Fruit Shop Assistant Platforms they use: Facebook, X-Box Online, IGN, Age of Empires, World of War Craft, YouTube, Stumble Upon Internet Usage/Habits: Huw is an extremely heavy internet user. He uses the internet to inform most parts of life including study, education, aesthetics, entertainment and to shop for international games. How is the project relevant: This project is relevant to Huw and users similar to him because they are likely to spend the time trawling through the content that is required to get a grasp on the complexity of the project. The most likely point of entry for these types of users is from the poster and the website. The link to the YouTube will be the most appealing to this kind of user and is most likely to attract them via the enticement to watch a video. These kinds of users also like to interact with their media so the call to action to get involved with the campaign later on in the project will include them in the drama and keep them coming back for updates. “I found the project quite easy to navigate and really liked the videos. The story was intriguing and it was good to be able to look at it from so many different angles. I didn’t like having to read so much though and this could have deterred me from getting the depths of the story”. Lauren McCarty ''' '''Age: 21 Lifestyle: Busy university student studying visual art and working in a café. Enjoys spending time in her studio and going to live gigs at various pubs around Melbourne. Education: Completed year 12. Occupation: Student/ Waitress/ Artist Platforms they use: Pinterest, Facebook. Internet Usage/Habits: Lauren uses Facebook to keep up with her friends and uses Pinterest for inspiration and university work. How is the project relevant: In terms of usage, Lauren is not likely to be a heavy user of this project. She is a visual person who is not interested in the chronology of the internet, nor is she really engaged in the online world. This project relies upon methodically trawling through content across multiple platforms which is not the kind of activity Lauren is likely to enjoy. She views the internet as a source of visual pleasure and information rather than a place to discover fictional stories. “I picked up the poster at uni and thought it was really interesting visually, when I visited the website I watched the video but after that I wasn’t really interested because hypnosis scares me and I didn’t want to get involved with the story because it seemed a bit random and unexplained” James Knox ''' '''Age: 21 Lifestyle: Addicted to the online world and basketball and is forming an online career as a solo rap artist. Education: Year 9 completed Occupation: Unemployed Platforms they use: X-Box, Youtube, Call of Duty, Facebook Internet Usage/Habits: James uses the internet almost perpetually, he is a keen rapper so uses the internet to post videos of himself rapping and has formed a community How is the project relevant: This project is relevant to extremely heavy users of the internet such as James because they enjoy simply using the internet. James in particular found the project enthralling because “it took me all over the internet and it was really cool to be able to discover things how you wanted to and then go back and do it all over again”. Elements of the project such as the call to action to help find George were also appreciated – “I really liked that, I mean, I knew it was all a project, but it just meant I could be involved without anything serious happening”. Write the second section of your page here. UXP Test Findings User experience testing notes Bio and prodigious talent repeats content. We just need one - Everyone loves the website (good work Mike), but the link to the doco students blog needs to be more prominent as it took people a while to figure out where to go next from the main page. - People were confused by the 404 page not found. Having the story on the page good clear things up a bit. - This is something we already know, but everyone wants to see the story. I think if we have the story in an obvious spot, then it will clear up a lot of the story questions people have. - A lot of people ended up on ‘What Happened to George?’ before the story was explained to them, and was therefore very confused by what was happening. So we need to make sure the key plot points happen before they end up on that. - A lot of comments about having to backtrack through the blog entries, and therefore muddling up the story for them. We might want to think about having the posts in a chronological order so that story is linear. - A few people asid that the videos are too long. Maybe if we break them up a bit ie. Voxpops in isolation…..The show in isolation, then people will be more engaged with the content. - Few comments about the doco blog being too text-heavy, and maybe too much “filler” content. - People seemed to hit a brick wall with the “investigation”…and wanted more of a clear-cut ending. I think we need some kind of conclusive link to something that has the audio about the world being taken over….or something else that ties it all up. If we re-structure our blog entries to see the oldest posts first, then the last thing they end up on can be our ending maybe? - One person said George’s blog is annoying as there is too much unnecessary content. So maybe we just cut back on the stuff we don’t need. - One person was confused as to who the “Help Find George” blog belonged to. Do we make it clear enough that it’s Lily’s? Tutor Consultation Feedback Kyla Brettle - Production Project One Tutor/Lecturer Hub Website: - text is good- but could be tightened slightly – try not to overuse/repeat the same word too close together – if you can say something in fewer words, do so - If you are repeating text – like on one page there is an intro para and you click through a ‘read more’ to another page – put the repeated paragraph in bold or do something else to make it stand out so we can move quickly to the next paraph - The videos are good but too long – would definitely benefit from being tighter and punchier. - Make sure you-tube blurbs have links back to the project – a few times I got stuck and couldn’t find my way ‘back’ to where I had been without fishing around in my ‘history’ or multiple clicks of the back screen. - SUMMARY excellent set up of the documentary and build up around Ray and disappearance of Georoge…. I’m feeling very primed about the next bit … What Happened to George Website: - clicking on first audio and not getting anything – probably because this is still in progress - the site states clearly what it is about – who is running it and why - this is good orientation - I want to read the newspaper article – but cannot enlarge – need to fix - Clicked on next audio – nice, works effectively, good lenght – but who is the voice why are they talking about this – a bit of text would help clarify - The audio police reports work well played in reverse order - The final post – reblog from George is good – maybe a few lines from Lily to say she has found this and suspects it is important …. Whatever … I like that georges blog is not in flashing lights – well done – gave me a feeling that I had discovered something Georges Blog: - at first looked a little empty – then found the stuff - video good – distorted audio not great – could have been a little tighter but good - … I’ve followed a the link from the Madonna image to certain stompers FB page – is this you? - Like the expansion on Georges relationship with Lili - Flipped through – read some bit – looks good – nice use of reblogging to fill out and expand on the look and feel and emotional subtext of things … Righto – now I don’t know where to go next – think I will go and explore the documentary … but don’t know how to get back there – you need some way to facilitate this- even if it is just ensuring pages open on a different tab rather than on the same one. Documentary Makers Website -''' looks good – click on the newspapers – do get larger images – but would help if the text were bigger – I zoom in as much as poss and it doesn’t get larger than about point 9''' - nice linking back to Georges blog – the web you are creating is working - reading logs and lecture logs a nice touch. Righto – now I really don’t know where to go … think the experience you have created thus far is outstanding (with a few minor fixes mentioned about) … I’m ready and primed for the climax/ending – whatever you have that reveals all the final bits that tie the story together …. Where is it and how do I get there? (the story could perform this function for you) … Also – where do I find the credits for the work? Final comment – what is the name of the project, is there any way you can increase brand awareness for it…. One last comment – thought you handled the double entry of Ray and George very well – you were able to slide focus from one to the other extremely well – great stuff Modifications Screen shot 2013-05-23 at 11.58.05 AM.png Screen shot 2013-05-22 at 11.50.34 PM.png Screen shot 2013-05-22 at 11.48.48 PM.png After analysing all the data we received from the User Experience Testing we found that overall, users were confused as to where the project end. There was clearly a lack of closure and climax to the story. We decided to create a website for the fascinators and link it from Lily’s blog as she is the one that discovers the truth behind George’s disappearance and exposes the reign of the fascinators. This webpage includes an explanation of who/what the fascinators are and wraps up George’s death as a heroic sacrifice for man kind. The webpage ties up the loose ends of the story and answers many of the lingering questions of users. Marketing Strategies and Goals Our project does not rely on the amount of users exploring the project for success, but regardless we promoted the project as much as possible to gain insights into the user experience, and what they thought of the project as a whole. We marketed the project at a popular university event, Chill n' Grill, a weekly barbeque on Bowen St. Here we gave out flyers of Nelson Ray's hypnotist show, which also included a link to the nelsonray.net url. Our goal here was both to promote the hypnotist's show and to get users onto the project through the url. Unfortunately we have no measure of how many users visited the site, but a large number showed keen interest in what it was all about. The hypnotist event was also relatively successful, attracting a crowd of around 40 people. Our other promotional events were minimal, and only involved attracting friends to visit the site via social media. Feedback we got from these was very useful in the developmental stages of the project.